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childrensbiblestudy.com text of the book of Judges |
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Chapter 5 |
On that day Deborah and Barak
son of Abinoam sang this song:
"When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly
offer themselves—praise the Lord! Hear this, you kings! Listen, you
rulers! I will sing to the Lord, I will sing; I will make music to
the Lord, the God of Israel.
O Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land
of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down
water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads
were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. Village life in
Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose,
arose a mother in Israel.
When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a
shield or spear was seen
among forty thousand in Israel. My heart is with Israel's princes,
with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the Lord!
You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and
you who walk along the road, consider the voice of the singers at
the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the Lord, the
righteous acts of his warriors in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down to the city gates. "Wake up,
wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O
Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'
Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of
the Lord came to me with the mighty. Some came from Ephraim, whose
roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you.
From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a
commander's staff.
The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with
Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart. Why did you stay among the
campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of
Reuben there was much searching of heart.
Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the
ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. The
people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the
heights of the field.
Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by
the waters of Megiddo,
but they carried off no silver, no plunder. From the heavens the
stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The
river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!
Then thundered the horses' hoofs—galloping, galloping go his mighty
steeds. 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord. 'Curse its people
bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the
Lord against the mighty.'
Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most
blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him
milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. Her
hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's
hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced
his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet
he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.
Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she
cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter
of his chariots delayed?' The wisest of her ladies answer her;
indeed, she keeps saying to herself, 'Are they not finding and
dividing the spoils:
a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,
colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my
neck—all this as plunder?'
So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who love you
be like the sun
when it rises in its strength."
Then the land had peace forty years. |
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